1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to access and finding a position in video or other data streams. The invention is more particularly related to referencing a position within the data stream to a portion of the data stream that serves as a reference marker. The invention is still further related to building reference markers from a low resolution data stream to reference positions in a full or higher resolution data stream. The invention is more particularly related to a video navigation and building timeline markers to reference positions in a video data stream.
2. Discussion of the Background
Modern video playback devices include features for positioning a point in the video for viewing, including any of fast forward, reverse, etc. FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional video playback device 100 that includes a video display area 102. A timeline 105 shows a current position of the video being displayed, and standard VCR controls, including play 115, Fast Rewind 120, Fast Forward 125, Step Back 130, Step Forward 135, etc., are provided. Any of the standard VCR controls may be utilized to position the current video playback point, or a user may drag the playback point button on the timeline to find a position in the video. However difficulties arise in finding specific positions within a video.
Some systems solve the problem of finding positions in a video by providing, in addition to a video flow, various snapshots extracted from specific points in the video. These snapshots are utilized to provide reference markers to the video position from which the snapshots were extracted.
FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional video playback mechanism having snapshots that reference positions in a video being played back. If a user wants to jump forward, the snapshots provide a frame of reference from which the user can select a position in the video. If a snapshot shows a particular scene the user is interested in, the user simply moves the playback point slide control knob on the timeline to a position associated with that snapshot. If the scene a user is interested in is not shown, the user may simply use a related scene to judge a position to begin a search for the desired scene.
Video clips, movies, and television programs are now increasingly being made available over networked devices including the Web. Often, such media is made available in a streaming format. Streaming formats begin sending the video, and a user beings playing the received video stream before an entire video is received.
Generally, streaming playback devices include the same standard VCR controls as found in typical video playback devices. However, most video provided today does not include indexed snapshots that allow a user to easily identify and select portions of video for viewing.